DEAR EDITOR:

Trumbull Metro Parks has placed a levy on our ballot in the November election that will generate more than $22 million over the course of 10 years.

MetroParks leaders claim they don’t even have enough money to do grass cutting.

My question is why don’t they seek government grants, which is also taxpayer money, for these projects without first asking the voters if they would support a levy for maintenance on these parks?

Now you want to spend $3.2 million in grant funds (also taxpayer money) to remove a dam that the citizens have told you will create a Pandora’s box of environmental and health issues, much like the landfill did in the early 2000s. It was the same experts that issued licenses for that landfill that are telling you to take the dam out for clean water.

They didn’t use common sense thinking with the landfill and are doing the same thing with the dam. The hydrogen sulfide being emitted from the landfill that caused an urgent public health hazard is a result of drywall being broken up and getting wet. Well, they weren’t wrapping it in bubble wrap, and it wasn’t under a dome to stay dry. Just simple common-sense thinking should have stopped that before we had an urgent public health hazard and the U.S. EPA spending over $4 million in taxpayer dollars to remediate and create an engineered treatment facility.

Removing the dam does nothing good for the community in the area. It doesn’t reduce flooding issues either. Who will pay for the remediation to correct the issues we get from that? And now MetroParks wants to secure more acreage in Lordstown and Kinsman, and we have no funds to support that.

Every township in the county is hurting for safety forces personnel. I think “We the People” would want to support a levy for police and fire before we support a levy for a board that isn’t looking out for the best interests of the citizens of Trumbull County. The Metro Parks board doesn’t appear to have to answer to anyone. They are not elected, but are appointed and have no term limits.

Trumbull County commissioners need to demand accountability and stop giving that board taxpayer money. When will the citizens be in the forefront of decisions that negatively impact our well-being?

DEBBIE ROTH

Warren